Lament

LAMENT

Express feelings such as fear, excitement, sorrow and revolt in the face of events over which we have no control, such as natural disasters, death, sickness etc.

Examples of the lament:

The Lament of Hacı Bey
I walked down from the quince orchard
Hold out, my knees, hold out.
A bride has come,
Awake, Haci Bey, awake.
Willows before the door,
Are losing their leaves.
Awake, Haci Bey, awake
There is henna on my hand, a bridal veil on my head.
I will cross hill and dale,
Valleys, hills and plains.
Awake, Haci bey, awake,
I came a bride and will go a maid.
A light in his room,
A silver spoon on his table.
I could not jump over,
I was ashamed and could not flee.
There are birds
Upon his grave.
Take Haci Bey’s grey horse
To the sultan’s market.
Erzincan in Ruins
We said you were our darling,
So much fresh blood under the ruins,
The wound weeps and flows, blood in the veins,
That lovely, darling Erzincan lies in ruins.
Tears fill my eyes,
Children have poured out onto the streets,
The cries are suffering, the weather cold,
Do not tremble, stand proud, Erzincan.
I would look happily, proudly at the crossroads,
Where are you Selimoğlu, Vakıflar, Urartu?
This is the home of flowers, fruit and beautiful girls,
The roses in your garden have faded, Erzincan.
The Euphrates is saddened, the nightingales silent,
Your luck turned bad on March thirteen, ninety-two.
You are no different to a staggering drunk,
Pull yourself together, Erzincan, mt rose.
Some issue muffled cries,
Lovely hands twitch in emptiness,
Heads are crushed and bodies broken,
You cannot be so ruthless, Erzincan.
We called you our darling, you cannot slay,
You cannot remain at odds with us for ever,
We hope you will never be rocked again,
Your spring has turned to winter, ruined Erzincan.
You thought there could be no fire on the snow.
These days, I have understood this,
A prayed and begged God,
For God’s sake protect us, Erzincan.
We thought this country wide, not narrow,
Never sheltered in great apartments,
We would not mind if the enemy did it,
You have condemned us to tents, Erzincan.
We left our friends and are suffering,
Our hearts are saddened, weeping blood.
Stop this migration, lords,
Do not expel us, Erzincan.
We gave forty thousand and it wanted more,
In eighty-three it wanted more.
This spring it did not pity us at all,
It took hundreds of hostages, Erzincan.
These lands are sick, and moaning,
Ears are listening to your heartbeat,
Nobody knows when it will happen,
Unlucky, untrusted Erzincan.
Troubled Kemal says, the gentlemen say,
I will burn for lovely souls.
Of course my vines will fruit again,
But your spring was not happy, Erzincan.
Erzincan of the black festivals…